Starting next week, the California Department of Justice will hold six public forums on how the state should implement its landmark privacy law, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”).  Although California enacted the CCPA in June 2018, the state is still in the process of implementing the new legislation, and the public forums “will provide an initial opportunity for the public to participate in the CCPA rulemaking process,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced in a December 19 press release.

The CCPA, which is considered the most stringent privacy law in the country, takes effect on January 1, 2020.  The legislation requires the Attorney General to adopt certain regulations by July 1, 2020, which will clarify the CCPA’s substantive requirements.  For instance, the Attorney General must adopt regulations “[t]o facilitate and govern the submission of a request by a consumer to opt out of the sale of personal information.”  The law also requires the Attorney General to “solicit broad public participation” with respect to new regulations.

The California state legislature already has amended the CCPA once since its passage, and further opportunities to shape the landmark legislation—both through further amendments and the regulatory process—are possible.

The CCPA public forums kick off in San Francisco on January 8, 2019, and interested parties also may submit written comments on CCPA rulemaking.  Additional public forums will take place on January 14 in San Diego, January 24 in Riverside, January 25 in Los Angeles, February 5 in Sacramento, and February 13 in Fresno.  The Attorney General requests that members of the public who wish to speak at the forums register online in advance.